Heaven: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|'''''Heaven''': Dying wish.''<br />

'''''Hell''': Dead certainty.''|Thorax, ''[[~~Nine~~ Chickweed Lane]]''}}

'''''Hell''': Dead certainty.''|Thorax, ''[[9 Chickweed Lane]]''}}

[[Describe Topic Here|Describe Heaven here.]]

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** Except that you ''probably'' kill a ''lot'' of people getting there. Notably, no one from the Enterprise is shown in the Nexus...only Picard and Guinan (who probably has superpowers, let's be honest).

*** There is no cost per se, you just need to be in a place that intersects with it. Unfortunately, one way to get it to intersect with you is to blow up stars so you can deflect it into your path.

* ''[[~~Its~~ a Wonderful Life]]'' uses the "nebula of lights" version in the opening, showing three stars flashing as the angels talk in a voice over.

* ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' uses the "nebula of lights" version in the opening, showing three stars flashing as the angels talk in a voice over.

* Seen briefly at the end of ''[[Ghost (~~Film~~)|Ghost]]'' {{spoiler|as Sam Wheat is welcomed into the afterlife}}.

* Seen briefly at the end of ''[[Ghost (film)|Ghost]]'' {{spoiler|as Sam Wheat is welcomed into the afterlife}}.

* Pretty much half of ''[[What Dreams May Come]]'' is a depiction of Heaven.

* The film ''[[Gladiator (~~Film~~)|Gladiator]]'' has a scene depicting Elysium, which looks rather like [[Arcadia]]. The titular gladiator is met by his wife and young son while a pleasant but ultimately incomprehensibly-lyricked tune runs in the background.

* The film ''[[Gladiator (film)|Gladiator]]'' has a scene depicting Elysium, which looks rather like [[Arcadia]]. The titular gladiator is met by his wife and young son while a pleasant but ultimately incomprehensibly-lyricked tune runs in the background.

* The original ''[[Bedazzled]]'' uses the Royal Gardens at Kew as the location shot for Heaven.

* Very, very thoroughly averted in ''[[The Prophecy (~~Film~~)|The Prophecy]]''. After thousands of years of war the rogue angel Gabriel and his faction, and the angels loyal to God led by Michael, who are fighting over letting humans into heaven and humanity's place in God's eyes/favor, things in heaven aren't so pleasant anymore.

* Very, very thoroughly averted in ''[[The Prophecy (film)|The Prophecy]]''. After thousands of years of war the rogue angel Gabriel and his faction, and the angels loyal to God led by Michael, who are fighting over letting humans into heaven and humanity's place in God's eyes/favor, things in heaven aren't so pleasant anymore.

== Literature ==

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* The heaven of Dante's ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' is the "nebula of lights" version, with radiant souls flocking around in symbolic constellations like a rose, a cross and an eagle-- although in illustrations, there's usually some fluffy clouds there as well.

* ''[[wikipedia:The Five People You Meet in Heaven|The Five people you meet in Heaven]]''

* ''[[The Great Divorce]]'' by [[CS ~~Lewis~~ ~~(Creator)~~|CS Lewis]] has people visiting Heaven on a day pass from Hell--neither is quite the stereotypical place.

* ''[[The Great Divorce]]'' by [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]] has people visiting Heaven on a day pass from Hell--neither is quite the stereotypical place.

** C.S. Lewis also has as a nontraditional heaven as part of the ''Chronicles of [[Narnia]]'', which {{spoiler|looks ''almost'' identical to the 'normal' world}}, or rather the 'normal' world is almost identical to Heaven; as Professor Digory Kirke puts it in ''[[The Last Battle]]'':

{{quote| "And of course it's different; as different as a real thing is from a shadow or as waking life is from a dream. It's all in [[Plato]], all in Plato: bless me, what ''do'' they teach them at these schools!"}}

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** Which heaven? The current version, or the finished product, aka 'New Earth'? Let's face it; while it may have its moments, our world is at least partially a [[Crapsack World]], even if not to the extent often used for that image - but according to the beginning of the book, it wasn't meant to be that way. So why not a repaired version that's literally heaven on earth?

* In [[The Lovely Bones]], Heaven is unique to each person; he or she is given things they most deeply want (except, of course, to be alive again on Earth). For protagonist Susie Salmon, the setting for her Heaven is the high school she never got to attend.

* In [[Hans Christian Andersen]]'s "[[~~The Little Match Girl (Literature)|~~The Little Match Girl]]", the eponymous girl dies, and her dead grandmother carries her soul to Heaven: "They both flew upwards in brightness and joy far above the earth, where there was neither cold nor hunger nor pain, for they were with God."

* In [[Hans Christian Andersen]]'s "[[The Little Match Girl]]", the eponymous girl dies, and her dead grandmother carries her soul to Heaven: "They both flew upwards in brightness and joy far above the earth, where there was neither cold nor hunger nor pain, for they were with God."

* The [[Star Trek Novel Verse]] has quite a few alien takes on heaven. For the Nausicaans, there's Heart of the Sky; for Bolians, the Vein of Mystery; for Trill, Mak'Relle Dur; for Betazoids Great Fire; for Efrosians, Endless Sky; for Xenexians, Kaz'hera (a [[Warrior Heaven]]); for Cardassians, the Hall of Memory.

* The Culture novels have virtual reality "afterlives". Because a mind can be copied and digitised, it can then be put into a simulation, usually at the point of death. Whilst this means that Heaven (or whatever equivalent exists for each individual alien species) can be made real, it also means that Hell can exist too. And then there are the Sublimed, who may or may not be capable of creating genuinely "real" heavens.

* ''[[~~Warrior Cats (Literature)|~~Warrior Cats]]'' has StarClan for Clan cats and The Tribe of Endless Hunting for Tribe cats. However, the cats in these heavens can communicate on rare occasions, and it is possible for a cat to belong to both.

* ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' has StarClan for Clan cats and The Tribe of Endless Hunting for Tribe cats. However, the cats in these heavens can communicate on rare occasions, and it is possible for a cat to belong to both.

== Live Action TV ==

* In ''[[~~Angel (TV)|~~Angel]]'', after Cordelia [[Ascend to A Higher Plane of Existence|ascended to a higher plane]], we see her in Heaven next season. It shows her as an angelic floating entity of light floating in a hazy pastel environment. Her first pronouncement? "I'm ''bored''"

* In ''[[Angel]]'', after Cordelia [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|ascended to a higher plane]], we see her in Heaven next season. It shows her as an angelic floating entity of light floating in a hazy pastel environment. Her first pronouncement? "I'm ''bored''"

* This quote from ''[[~~Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|~~Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' pretty much sums it up:

* This quote from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' pretty much sums it up:

{{quote| Buffy: I was happy. Wherever I ... was ... I was happy. At peace. I knew that everyone I cared about was all right. I knew it. Time ... didn't mean anything ... nothing had form ... but I was still me, you know? And I was warm ... and I was loved ... and I was finished. Complete. I don't understand about theology or dimensions, or ... any of it, really ... but I think I was in heaven.}}

** Buffy also sings about heaven, and her unexpected return from it, in [[Musical Episode|Once More With Feeling]]:

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** In a particularly interesting case of "one man's heaven, another man's hell", most Heavens are alignment based, so that there's a Lawful Good ''and'' a Chaotic Good heaven. The hells are "heavens of a sort", since they are the Evil part of the spectrum. Lawful Evil hell is even considered relatively nice, all things considered.

*** To clarify, the main problem with going to one of the Lower Planes is that [[Captain Obvious|all the other people who went there are evil too]], and you [[Restart At Level One|start at the bottom of the ladder.]]

** More notable the heavens are based on different "concepts" of heaven, from most lawful to most chaotic: Arcadia is all about order and Law and society as a perfectly regimented place, ruled with benevolence and justice. Celestia is all about disciplined and constant self-improvement (symbolized by climbing the mountain, when you reach the top... Well, you [[Ascend to A Higher Plane of Existence|you don't come back.]] Bytopia is about the pleasures of honest living and hard work. Elysium is about calm and restfullness (so much that people have trouble leaving) [[The Beastlands]] is all about [[Ghibli Hills]] and unspoiled nature ala Rosseau. Arborea is all about swashbuckling and High Adventure, while Ysgard is all about competition and contest.

** More notable the heavens are based on different "concepts" of heaven, from most lawful to most chaotic: Arcadia is all about order and Law and society as a perfectly regimented place, ruled with benevolence and justice. Celestia is all about disciplined and constant self-improvement (symbolized by climbing the mountain, when you reach the top... Well, you [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|you don't come back.]] Bytopia is about the pleasures of honest living and hard work. Elysium is about calm and restfullness (so much that people have trouble leaving) [[The Beastlands]] is all about [[Ghibli Hills]] and unspoiled nature ala Rosseau. Arborea is all about swashbuckling and High Adventure, while Ysgard is all about competition and contest.

* In ''[[Exalted]]'', Heaven is just a enormous city where the top gods live. Ordinary humans have little to no chance of ever getting there, and the [[Odd Job Gods]] aren't based there either. The afterlife is the rather crapsacky Underworld, though you might [[Reincarnation|reincarnate]]. [[And I Must Scream|Or be made into soulsteel]].

* [[~~In Nomine (Tabletop Game)|~~In Nomine]]'s Heaven has a whole bunch of different areas (called Cathedrals although only some of them are actually buildings), the dead people can hang out in whichever area suits their fancy, there is an endless party, a library containing not only anything that has ever been written, but some things that somebody only thought of writing, a number of different places of worship, including one that always appears to be a perfect site of worship for any observer's religious leanings, etc. And all this is just the LOWEST level of Heaven, the Upper Heavens are essentially a place of perfect transcendent joy, souls that go there don't come back.. Hell is similarly varied, with an area that's like the stereotypes of Las Vegas writ large, an [[Fire and Brimstone Hell|area with lava pits where people are tortured]], etc. Most souls don't go to either though, they just reincarnate.

* [[In Nomine]]'s Heaven has a whole bunch of different areas (called Cathedrals although only some of them are actually buildings), the dead people can hang out in whichever area suits their fancy, there is an endless party, a library containing not only anything that has ever been written, but some things that somebody only thought of writing, a number of different places of worship, including one that always appears to be a perfect site of worship for any observer's religious leanings, etc. And all this is just the LOWEST level of Heaven, the Upper Heavens are essentially a place of perfect transcendent joy, souls that go there don't come back.. Hell is similarly varied, with an area that's like the stereotypes of Las Vegas writ large, an [[Fire and Brimstone Hell|area with lava pits where people are tortured]], etc. Most souls don't go to either though, they just reincarnate.

* ''[[~~Mage: The Awakening (Tabletop Game)|~~Mage: The Awakening]]'' features the Aether, the Supernal Realm associated with the Arcanum of Forces (fire, electricity, gravity, sound, light, etc.) and Prime (the very essence of magic itself). It is a realm of endless, glorious light and limitless power, and it's home to angels, beings of pure energy and unflagging resolve. No souls seem to enter the Aether after death, however; most pass through the Underworld, and the only mortals who visit the Aether are mages who Awaken to the Obrimos path.

* ''[[Mage: The Awakening]]'' features the Aether, the Supernal Realm associated with the Arcanum of Forces (fire, electricity, gravity, sound, light, etc.) and Prime (the very essence of magic itself). It is a realm of endless, glorious light and limitless power, and it's home to angels, beings of pure energy and unflagging resolve. No souls seem to enter the Aether after death, however; most pass through the Underworld, and the only mortals who visit the Aether are mages who Awaken to the Obrimos path.

== Video Games ==

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== Web Comics ==

* Heaven in ''[[Order of the Stick ~~(Webcomic)~~|Order of the Stick]]'' is a good allegorical version; at the lowest levels, it's sort of an earthly paradise: [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0492.html "The Tavern of Infinite One-Night Stands," "the Debate Hall Where You're Always Right, and so on.] However, [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0493.html eventually people go upward toward true perfect enlightenment once their fleshy urges are sorted out.]

* Heaven in ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'' is a good allegorical version; at the lowest levels, it's sort of an earthly paradise: [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0492.html "The Tavern of Infinite One-Night Stands," "the Debate Hall Where You're Always Right, and so on.] However, [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0493.html eventually people go upward toward true perfect enlightenment once their fleshy urges are sorted out.]

* ''[[Misfile]]'', it's where the files that tell the universe how to be are kept and the angels hangout. To be honest though, the few glimpses we've seen of it make [http://www.misfile.com/?page=891 look more like a backdrop] from Star Trek.